As Suzanne Kerr sees it, if you wantyour child to perform well academically, you've also got to nurture their emotional intelligence. "The success of a student at school academically is inextricably linked to their sense of self and their capacity in social and emotional competencies," says Kerr, the director of wellbeing at Sydney's Queenwood. "If you want your child to perform well academically, recognising and developing their strengths of self awareness, self-management. social awareness and social management is part of the puzzle."
Understanding this link is the reason why many independent schools are putting a strong focus on cultivating EQ (emotional quotient. or emotional intelligence) in students. They do this through social-emotional learning, which helps students develop self-awareness, self-control and the interpersonal skills that are crucial for positive school, work and life outcomes.
INTEGRATING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE INTO ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Kerr has been interested in social-emotional learning for years, but says she's noticed a real increase in attention on this area in the education field during the past 24 months; while many schools are embracing social-emotional learning, exactly what form that takes differs.
Queenwood, in conjunction with the University of New South Wales, has introduced Smart Study, a study-skills program that helps equip students with the skills to know how to tackle study head-on - and not be waylaid by procrastination or stress.
Queenwood's principal, Marise Mcconaghy, says: "Reported levels of anxiety went right down." The school is now rolling out the program to earlier year levels, starting with year 9s.
Another competency that Queenwood has focused on is what it calls Courageous Conversations -which helps students learn how to tackle potentially difficult conversations with their peers, teachers and parents, to develop confidence, understand the perspective of others and sharpen their communication skills.
How we communicate with each other on our phones is another important topic area, because while devices may be banned on school grounds, students are still going to use them after hours and on weekends.
At St Aloysius in Melbourne, teaching staff run a weekly program called Nourish, in which they explore navigating healthy relationships and how we interact with one another. Its aim is "to support students in growing as good individuals", says the school's principal, Mary Farah.
The program is designed to be responsive to the needs of each year level. If the school's wellbeing team has identified an issue among a particular cohort - for year 12s, that may be pressure to perform academically or stress about meeting deadlines -the program is tailored to address those issues.
Other programs delivered throughout the school year at St Aloysius focus on topic areas such as character building.
PRACTICAL SKILLS FOR LIFE
These skills may be vital for students in their future careers, but they're also crucial for navigating interpersonal relationships today.
"It helps foster better relationships because students understand how to interact with each other and work with each other," Farah says. "If there's any conflict or misunderstanding in their friendships, they know how to resolve it with each other. It gives them a maturity level greater than [typical] teenagers - it actually makes them think at a different. deeper level."
Farah believes all schools should consider social-emotional learning programs essential. "It's not negotiable," she says. "It really has to be part of the learning journey."